


Mangled Body

by Danaeka



Category: The Mentalist
Genre: Amputation, Amputee!TeresaLisbon, Angst, Eventual Smut, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:41:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 11,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22027237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Danaeka/pseuds/Danaeka
Summary: For once she felt lost, her whole life and identity was down the drain, everyone was giving her pitying glances as they visited her hospital room, she understood... Who wouldn't feel pity towards a tortured and mangled woman like her...
Relationships: Patrick Jane/Teresa Lisbon, Wayne Rigsby/Grace Van Pelt
Comments: 10
Kudos: 25





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Heeey... So I've had this idea for quite a while now... And only now am I putting in action. I hope you guys like it. Also, lisbon has her right arm and left leg amputated. I did it that way because I couldn't decide which one to get

Teresa woke up in a bleach-smelling room. A beeping sound kept echoing in the space, she opened her eyes and immediately closed them again as the place was blinding in brightness, she slowly became aware of her surroundings, and as her mind begun to work again, slowly but surely she associated the room with another place.

She was in the hospital. It made sense, White curtains, walls and furniture, the obnoxious beeping sound that must have been an IV, and the very strong bleach smell. Now that she figured out where she was... She needed to figure out why she was here. 

Teresa tried to remeber the last place she was before here, it was... Dark... And ... Smelled of cooper. Yet her brain kept blocking it quickly every time she got another adjective for the space she was kept in. 

Lisbon tried to open her eyes again, slowly this time, and she could distinguish two things now, apart from the brightness of the room... The voices out side of said room. They were muffled, yet she could definitely recognize Jane's voice among the other three voices, the other three voices sounded very close to her team...

"She's awake now..."

Jane entered her room. For once he was just wearing his dress shirt and vest, no jacket. His hair looked messy, and he had slight bags under his eyes.

"J-jane..." She said in a very raspy voice, until now she hadn't noticed the oxygen mask on her face. She moved a hand to take it off.. But it just wouldn't budge. 

"hey Lisbon... " He said softly taking the seat next to her stretcher. "you're finally awake..." The man looked close to tears as he took her left hand instead of the right one that was the closest to him..

"Jane... W-what"

"Don't speak. Just nod or shake your head" she nodded in undestanding. "Do you remember the past month?" she nodded "the past two weeks?" She thought for a moment and shook her head "all right... Do you feel anything out of..." Jane hesitated for a few seconds before speaking again "... Ordinary?" She shook her head and heard him mumble something about phantom feeling.

But that was usually the pain or sensation someone felt when a limb was amputated...

With fear she looked up at her arm and found it bandaged, completely wrapped in cast and bandages, she had it elevated a buit, if she concentrate she could feel it... Uneven and jagged... as if things didn't quite connect the way they should...

But her arm was.. There as it should be.. Where was the pain coming from? Immediately anxiety crept in and Teresa begun to trash around in her hospital bed. Jane's eyes panicked, he held her left arm and shoulder -up enough to not hurt her- "Teresa please... Calm down... Y-you had a very nasty infection on your leg-

"L-Leg!? M-m-my arm!"

"... Lisbon just... Calm down please..." Jane looked close to tears and like he would break at any moment. So she complied the request and laid down slowly.

"Two weeks after our last case you suddenly went silent. No calls... No voice mails... No e-mail... Nothing, we went to your apartment and found a red smiley face on your bedroom wall yet no body. We searched for two week's, then one day you walked in, limping badly to the office, covered in blood and cuts, you were wet, freshly bathed... But you still smelled horribly... Your arm was already gone to your elbow... but you leg was the source of the smell... You had various cuts and other numerous things that led to the amputation of your leg... And your arm was mailed in a freezer a few hours after.. You've been in an induced coma for a few days.

Lisbon took a long moment to process all that information, she clasped Jane's arm with her hand and begun sobbing. 

Senior Agent Teresa Lisbon, leader of the CBI Serious Crime Unit, 'Mother' and 'Father' of her three brothers, Saint Teresa Lisbon...

Was now ruined because of her body... Mangled Body


	2. Grace Van Pelt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heeey, so here's chapter two. They'll get longer don't worry

_It had_ _been a week, now the whole building was sure Teresa Lisbon was kidnaped. No note, no notice or even damend piece of evidence that proved she was just walking through life. Her wallet was in her night stand, her badge next to her gun in the pillow besides her head pillow. No forced entry, no signs of struggle, yet the blanket had a faint sweet smell that reminded the team of chloroform._

_Jane was a mess, ever since Lisbon's kidnapping he had been sleeping less and less, he didn't allow anyone inside her office without him being there to monitor them and to make sure nothing was moved for her return. She had to return, just had to._

_Grace was a sobbing walking disaster, no one could mention her boss's name in front of her without resulting in Grace crying, Rigsby comforting her and Cho kicking them out of the bullpen._

_Cho was mad, Rigsby on multiple occasions found him in a clandestine boxing match, never received a punch since he usually took the opponent out before they could land any sort of hit. And Wayne often found himself dragging him out of whatever alley the fight had taken place in._

_Rigsby was taking it… better, it’s not that he didn’t feel anything, but he could hold it in. Every day he found himself in his father’s house asking for a fight. Yet the old man never returned the punch, saying he wasn’t going to partake on releasing his anger, that he should embrace it and save it for when they caught the culprit._

_The team felt lost, their leader, the strong, independent woman known as Teresa Lisbon was abducted in the ‘safety’ of her house. And hadn’t been able to defend herself_.

**______________________ ( this is a line break, isn't it lovely?)**

Rigsby and Cho were busy at the waiting room. The place somehow had turn into a new bull pen as they’ve both brought their laptops and case boxes sat at their feet. Grace had taken it upon herself in feeding Lisbon, they all knew she tended to skip meals if she was sad or stressed. Right now she was practically over dosing on both emotions so someone had to feed her.

Jane had also found out the carpet was more comfortable than the ‘couch’ on the room - that thing must have had rocks on the bottom- and was napping in one corner, using his jacket as a pillow and Rigsby and Cho’s jacket as a blanket thanks to the air conditioner in the room.

Both Wayne and Kimball kept getting calls from the office for tutorship in some cases, as their work had been cut to half for a few weeks, courtesy of Minelly, mush to Bertram’s dislike.

A Doctor walked in and the three of them got up immediately, apparently Jane had been awake for a good ten minutes and had pretended to sleep just to avoid getting questions thrown his way. On his way up, Wayne knocked up his folding table and almost dropped his laptop- which he immediately went to grasp and in return dropped his coffee filled mug.

One of the nurses was brave enough to give a chuckle. The nerve of some people... The doctor pulled them outside for what they assumed, was an update on Lisbon’s situation.

He held a report on his hands and was grasping it quite violently...“we’ve found human flesh on her stomach. After she was brought to the hospital, Patrick noticed and told us she had blood dripping down her chin. She wasn’t freshly beaten up so we decided to pump her stomach while she was unconscious."

“what? “ Rigsby asked in disbelief “so there was another person down with-“ Jane cut him off, as he already knew the answer to that.

“no, let the man finish Wayne. “

“her own flesh…”

Patrick couldn’t help but feel sorry for the staff who was walking by and got startled by Cho’s sudden punch to the wall.

The doctor said it would take at least six months before she could go to any sort of therapy for her leg and arm. She had tears in her eyes as she heard the doctor telling Jane and her team what he had previouspreviously told Grace and herself.

She knew her team.. Yet Cho always managed to scare her, as she even jumped a bit at a sudden noise outside.

“someone’s mad” Van Pelt said with a small, weak laugh

Grace was besides her, helping her eat, as her left arm was the healthy one and she has little to no coordination in that arm. Grace was really tender and kept rubbing her leg in conform.

“Grace… “ Lisbon whispered after a few minutes

“yes boss?” she asked looking up from Lisbon’s plate.

“… I’m fired aren’t I? “

Van Pelt didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. She shook her head. And looked into Lisbon’s eyes. Thankfully she had no bruises.

“no boss. Actually. Minelli said he wanted to speak with you… “ she smiled and picked another spoon full of the soup that Lisbon was eating.

“oh… okay I guess I’ll.. Ask someone to take me there”

“the nurse in charge said you need to use a wheel- Teresa didn’t let Grace finish that sentence.

“there’s no way in hell I’m using a wheel chair”

Grace obviously felt a bit bad after Teresa’s outburst. As she put the spoon down on the bowl and lower her head in shame of bringing the subject up. Lisbon felt bad and immediately tried to grab Grace’s hands in her own, as her right hand wouldn’t budge she looked down to find…

Nothing.

It hit her, like a truck in the roadway. She was an amputee, she had no leg and her arm would never work the same, she was shattered. No way she was going back to normal, no longer was she that proud woman of her twenties. In her thirties she lost everything, now she was utterly destroyed. Broken and mangled.

She felt moisture on her lap. She though somehow her water had spilled and was dripping on her gown. But that thought vanished when she felt a cloth whipping her cheek.

“it’s okay to cry boss… I won’t judge and… I would worry me if you keep it all bottled up… “

Lisbon shook her head, she wasn’t crying, never had she cried in front of anyone else, just her pillow and sometimes her mirror. But never in front of another human being.

Yet before she knew it, tear after tear kept sliding down her face. Reminding her she was a human, she had feelings, and this time around she couldn’t hide what was wrong. She was an open book. Everyone knew or would know what happened to her. She was broken, pieces that could never be recovered. And everyone around her knew.

Grace wrapped her arms carefully around lisbon. Sobbing too and holding her close. As if she would vanish were she to let Lisbon go.

The team watched sadly from the door. Lisbon was family for them, their mother, sister, friend, and saving angel.

Now it was their turn to return the favor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a rat in my house at the moment... Confied to my room till then


	3. Kimball Cho

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is what it's gonna be, Each character will have a chapter. After all four we'll continue with the plot

_Teresa was lost, she didn’t know what was happening, her whole body felt on fire and as she was scrubbed she felt even more and more weak._

_As the water was dumped on her her her body shivered._

_As the woman rubbed her body roughly with soap and - what she was sure to be bleach – to get rid of any evidence of her prison for the last two weeks, her skin screamed. Her arm was red and raw from all the abuse, she swore she couldn't feel it anymore..._

_Her left leg was no better, swollen and purple, up to her knee where rope was tied later on to prevent the infection to advance much further. It also smelled, reeked of putrefaction._

_She was roughly pulled out of the tub and forced to step on the floor where the same woman – loreli? – dried her up and took out a pair of scissors._

_Her hair kept falling to the ground on chunks.. She heard scissors snapping.. And this jolt that came from her, still slightly damped sides- she shivered in fear everytime the sound of the blade was made evident. She vomited a bit on the floor from pain, a chunk of meat and a bit of blood fell out of her mouth._

_“gross “ the woman said and cut another chunk of her hair. Another jolt and another scream._

_After a few minutes she was done and Teresa pushed out of the bathroom, got a bathrobe on and pushed into a car. She was in and out all the way, still shivering and trembling from time to time. They stopped for a few moments and, as the men got out a women got in with a bag in hand._

_A store’s name could be read on the bag but…_

_She dressed Teresa up quickly, she hooked the bra and got out a simple man dress shirt, already bloodying in the edges thanks to her ‘arm nub’ By the time she got it on. She made sure to roll the sleeve up enough to make it obvious Teresa no longer had an arm, put on a pair of panties and left the car again._

_The men got inside again and they continued the journey. They stopped in a very familiar street. Opened the door and pushed her out, it was very early so no one was up yet. She made her way inside the building, and found herself in a very familiar floor…_

_Noise… so much noise…_

_Many familiar voices and.._

______________________

Cho was the one who woke up first. Jane had a point in choosing to sleep on the carpet instead then on the couch, it was horribly hard and stiff.

A small cry echoed through the hall, he immediately recognized it and bolted up to the room. Lisbon tried to get up and, obviously, thanks to the phantom pain and feeling, she fell down.

She was sobbing in frustration as she tried to get up from her position, her leg was visible and Kimball found himself starring at it, she was bandaged up to the thigh, yet the leg had been severed a bit bellow the knee, the doctor said that was very good as she could get a prothesis and walk normally again in two or so years.

After his small space out, he knelt down besides her, touching her shoulder blade softly, she looked up and tried to fake, tried to pretend she wasn’t crying over her condition.

“boss… what were you doing… “ he knew she didn’t need to use the bathroom as the nurse told them she went a bit under an hour ago. So she must’ve been up for the sake of being up.

“I-I needed to-

“no you weren’t going to the bathroom. Don’t lie”

Teresa felt embarrassed, she had already cried all over Grace the day before and now Kimball saw her on the floor and in obvious pain.

He slowly and very, very carefully lifted her into his arms, carrying her to the stretcher. She pulled the covers over her and took a seat next to her.

“if you want to speak… do so. I won’t judge.”

Had her whole team thought of that line? She wanted to think they rehearsed it in her absence. Yet, she could bring herself to even crack a smile.

“I-I-“ she took a deep, long breath- “I felt.. My leg! I felt it, I-it was there! I felt my foot, M-my fingers, my ankle… M-my everything! It was there!”

She covered her face with her left hand while shaking strongly

“S-so I had to show you guys! Had to prove I was fine!” her voice was now weak, thin and frail “a-and as I tried to get up I fell! I-I’ve been trying to get up but my arm just wouldn’t work!”

Cho stared at her, his mind trying to find the right words to comfort his bawling boss… yet, he couldn’t. He was a man of actions not words…

So he let his body do the talking, with one hand caressing her hair, with the other he pulled her one hand away from her face to wipe the tears with his napkin. Slowly he pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, lingering there for a few seconds he whispered in a soft and gentle voice.

“boss… you know I’m not one to talk… and… I just want you to know I… I’m very sorry we couldn’t find you in time… I want you to understand… none of this is your fault… none… and… in our eyes you’re still the strongest… most independent woman we’ve ever known”

Lisbon started sobbing once again. This time, in Kimball’s embrace, she felt protected, secure. And for that moment she let herself rest. She was fine, and for once in a long time, she let her walls down, broke down on his strong arm, for she knew… he would protect her. Her whole team would...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rat's still here... Rigsby's up next, please comment it helps me a lot!


	4. Wayne Rigsby

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter three four up! Please leave feed back. I love reading comments!!

_“…. Boss?” asked Wayne getting up while also lifting the land line and dialing something by feeling the buttons._

_“Teresa…” She knew that voice too well._

_Coming out of her office, dressed in a formal shirt and formal pants, no vest, no jacket. He looked disheveled and messy, bags under his eyes, a bit thinner if she must say, she immediately ran up to him, they both knelt on the floor. Jane caressing her chopped hair and giving small kisses on her forehead._

_“you’re back… y-you’re finally back!”_

_Jane tried to grasp her arms to pull her back a bit and take a look at her face, yet he grabbed nothing on her right side, he tried again and once more caught nothing. He went a bit higher and felt her tense, gasp in pain and tremble a bit. Fear evident in his eyes as he looked down, unbuttoning her shirt and pulling down her short a bit he saw it, right above her elbow she no longer an arm, and from there up the skin was mad purple, leaking blood and puss, smelled horribly, it stopped a bit down her shoulder where the skin was almost normal, red and swollen, but it looked healthy enough._

_Peering down her body to her left leg, his nose finally identifying that deadly smell of putrefaction. Her leg was the source. It has a rope tightly tied to the knee and separated where the skin looked healthy from the practically dead tissue._

_Patrick hugged her closer and kept running his hand through her head, feeling the uneven strands and bits. Some of it was cut so lazily he could feel the chops and edges to it. His hand traveled down to her back, he felt a mark there and as he tried to feel better he noticed the shirt’s fabric was glued to her skin by now, her body was trying really hard to close the wounds and in that process the shirt must’ve adhered itself to the sticky blood._

_“Jane I’ve called the ambulance…” Wayne said kneeling down to his eye level. Poor guy tried to be smooth by ‘scratching’ his nose to cover the involuntary movement of disgust to the smell in the air._

_“thanks… there are some… sleeping pills on my jacket um… half of a pill should not be strong enough to make her fall asleep, but enough to relax her. She’s… very tense”_

_Rigsby nodded and got to his feet. Grace went to kitchen to pour Lisbon a cup of water. And Cho went outside to blow some steam as a few moments later as Grace and Rigsby came back with the items a strong punch was heard through the walls, followed by a groan._  
_“… I hope he didn’t break anything” said Rigsby, “he didn’t break a thing in all those alley fights and now to loose against a wall wouldn’t be good”_  
_The young father split the pill in half and gave the smaller piece to Jane. Grace gave him the cup._  
_“Lisbon… this will relax you… open your mouth please…”_  
_Teresa opened up slightly, Jane slipped the pill inside and helped her gulp down the water by massaging her throat slightly._  
_She doze off after a few minutes. Enough to hear the ambulance nearing._

_________________

Cho had gone to assist in an interrogation, Jane was busy talking with the therapist and Grace had gone home to shower and change, maybe even to catch some sleep.

Rigsby was currently fixing Lisbon’s hair. The hospital has lended him a scalpel and a nurse – she was keeping an eye on him to make sure he didn’t stab anyone - he was using it to give her something similar to a voguish pixie cut. 

He was used to this. He used to cut his own hair and would sometimes cut his friends hair. It helped that lisbon had short hair rather than long hair.

For some reason they hadn’t wanted to give him a pair of scissors. 

“thanks Rigsby…”

“no problem boss, I do this all the time plus it’s for free! On a salon this would be 50 bucks or so.”

Teresa laughed softly and nodded. It felt nice to have and actual hair cut, a gentle hand, being able to enjoy the tickles it sent down her spine. Her friend put down the scalpel and started combing her hair with his fingers. She enjoyed not feeling a jolt… not… 

Her shoulders begun to shake, her burnt marks itching ever few seconds as her body betrayed her once again. She hiccuped, out of the corner of her eye she saw Rigsby hand the scalpel over and the nurse leave. She knelt in front of her.

“I saw the burnt marks… and… I know an electric shock mark when I see one… Boss please, tell me what happened.”

Lisbon took a few gulps of air. Tensing every time she did that horrid sound in her tries to breath better but ended up breathing too much. Rigsby’s hand traveled to her hair, smoothing it down and up, a gentle massage that helped more than it seemed… 

“s-some of the tortures, they had… this… old very old electric chair… and… they’ve set it to… low bolts… enough to hurt when your muscles contracted, but not to kill or… actually damage you… other times, in… long sessions, they’d cut me multiple times… and… if I begun dosing off, they’d give me a shock. A strong one to wake me up”

By this point his had was on her back. She pulled him closer.

“I’m dead Rigsby! Senior Agent Teresa Lisbon is dead!”

And he returned the gesture… hugging her close, so close he could smell the mint shampoo Jane bought for Lisbon, could feel the small tickles her hair made to his cheeks, her breath on his neck. She was alive. Alive and kicking, they would make sure to keep her that way. 

“boss… you know I see you as a sister, the protector I never had, You saved all of us… we’re all broken. In our ways, you aren’t dead… you’re alive, a survivor… and no matter how shattered each of us are we help each other grow, we’ll be your support, I’ll be your leg, Cho your foot, Grace your arm and Jane your hand… we’re here with you, you're our family and we are yours… please let us help. We will not leave you alone in this”

She sobbed into his shoulder. Clutching to him with her arm. Just as last night she felt safe… protected. Her family would protect her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jane's next


	5. Patrick Jane

_Jane held Lisbon, close in his arms and kept caressing her back, on occasions feeling a rough texture beneath a certain point in the fabric. He tried to ignore it. As much as he would have liked to ignore it, she was going to have to go through a tough recovery._

_Firstly she was going to need surgery. No doubt she was going to need to get the rest of her arm amputated, her leg could be saved to a bit under the knee. After surgery, she was going to need help in the bathroom, dressing, eating, the most mundane of activities she could no longer do by herself, and for such an independent woman that was going to be a low blow in her ego._

_But the team wasn’t leaving her alone in all of this. Neither them, nor him. He was already planning on taking her to one of his properties, hiring a nurse for there were things he couldn’t help her in but… did he really want to have a stranger near his Teresa?_

_Teresa was going to need help in getting dressed as he already knew, yet also in bathing and using the bathroom. It wasn’t as if he was unfamiliar with those tasks, after all his wife had a C-section with Charlotte and after such an operation she needed help in all the aforementioned activities. But that was different. She was his wife and he her husband._

_Yet this woman in his arms was much closer to him than his wife ever was. He loved Teresa very much, but hadn’t been able to confess thanks to a certain John written in red. Always afraid his enemy would take her away but now all that had gone to the drain. He was sticking with her._

_“This is bad… her arm isn’t looking good and her leg won’t recover…” Grace stated, keeping a rag over Lisbon’s arm as it had startedbleeding again._

_“yeah, I just don’t get it, no limb grows this infected in just two weeks”_

_“sometimes it’s not just the limb, it has to do with the fact that she must’ve been kept in a dirty place” Grace answered rigsby’s statement._

_“But we won’t be able to trace it because she’s scrubbed clean, she smells of bleach and her skin is irritated no doubt of hot water.”_

_Her nails were clipped to the edge, the only chance of getting something was if she somehow had dirt anywhere. But that wasn’t possible. She was clean from head to toe._

_“Lisbon is hurt because of me…” whispered Jane, the team heard him of course. Yet had nothing to say, couldn’t answere, couldn’t say a thing._  
_Van Pelt broke the silence. “If it’s anyone’s fault is all of ours. We’re her team and we often leave her alone when she’s stays to do paper work… she leaves alone and at God knows what hour, tired…”_

_Jane ketp rubbing her back as the team discussed things. That skin kept bothering him. So he lifted her shirt. Exposing her black laced panties – no doubt work of a woman in the organization –_

_“oh gosh Jane! Cover her up!” reproached Grace taking of her jacket to cover her friend’s backside._

_“she has underwear. It’s no different than a bikini.” He reproached and bent over to look at the skin on her low back, a bit to the left and on her ribs, a burst mark, the shape made his blood boil._  
_A smiley face… crying blood_

__________________

The hospital was ready to release Lisbon now, she had to be taken care of 24/7 never alone. Jane of course took responsibility. No one was taking this woman out of his sight again. His saving grace, he was going to protect his angel. Just as she had done all these years. Now it was payback time.

She was done bathing, and he was helping her get dressed. Grace had gone to Lisbon apartment and brought an underwear, no bra – as the bandages already already her breasts – and a halter top.

Van Pelt had offered to do this. But since he was the one that was going to take care of her. He might as well get over the shame right now.

Now, Jane had his fair experience in woman before his wife and even after her death he still had that experience. But this was Lisbon, his boss and best – soon to be more – friend.

He pulled the panties and found that they were kinda cute. Baby blue, lace edged panties, adorable to his eyes. 

“now Lisbon… close your legs, yes that’s it…” he knelt infront of her, helped her put her right foot on the right hole and pulled them up, being careful where her nub started “now hold onto my neck with your left arm…” as she did, and he was sure she held him tight, Jane lifted her up, as she stood he pulled the underwear up to her hips, fixed the edges a bit and helped her sit down again.

Next he picked the bandages and the gauze. This, this he was nervous about, because Teresa didn’t have anything bellow that to well to cover her up... 

Misinterpreting his hesitantion for something else she begun sobbing softly, so soft he didn’t notice until he turned around and saw small tear trails on her face. He inmediatly put the bandages down and caressed her face gently.

“No Lisbon… it’s not that, I-I don’t… think of you as disgus-

“what if I-I hadn't been thinking that!”

“b-but!”

“you do think I’m disgusting!”

She begun sobbing louder. Great, now he’d done it. He once again tried to fix things by grabbing bher hands, forgetting he just had one arm and, as his left arm couldn’t grab her now, non-existent hand, it brushed against the swolen skin of her shoulder. Making her scream. 

“I’m sorry Teresa I-

“Jane what the hell is going on in here!?” Yelled Van Pelt as she entered the room. 

Jane gulped and begun explaining the situation, Grace nodded in understanding, after all, she herself tried to rub Lisbon’s arm a few days back just to touch her side. She felt ashamed and her boss obviously noticed it but didn’t mention it. 

“all right… I’ll… I’ll go get a- 

“no, I’ll fix it, please. I have to.”

The red head hesitated a moment, in the end she left them alone, not without smiling sweetly at Lisbon and hugging Jane for good luck. 

“Lisbon… never will I consider you disgusting. I-it’s just that I’ve never seen you anywhere near naked… and I know you have a pretty body, b-but you have nothing bellow that towel a-and- and I got a bit nervous over it…”

He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead and waited for her answer.  
She felt lost, Jane’s explination made a lot of sense. He saw himself as a married man, still tied to his late wife. And she was just his boss, just a woman who barked commands and had gotten destroyed in two weeks top. 

“you’re a beautiful, breathtaking strong woman… and I’ll forever hold you close to my heart. You’re the light of my life. Please…”

“…. Okay”

Smiling in relief, Patrick got back to work. He helped her lay on her side for the first part. 

Untying Lisbon’s towell, he let it fall to her side, and trying not to look at her chest, turned to the table for the gauze, and once he turned back he found her covering herself with her good arm. Smiling a bit, he started the bandaging process. 

He had to stay strong for her, once upon a time she had lifted him up and helped him though his hell. Now he was going to help her get through with her own demons.

The bandage had three layers, a non-sticking gauze, a poofy gauze, and a normal bandage layer. He laid them in that order, stopped before the last one, and, helped her sit again, Teresa looked at him and smiled softly. He returned the smile. This was fine.

“if I leave it too tight please tell me”

“okay…”

He moved her arm away gently, placed the tip of the compress – wich had a velcro tip – in the middle of her back and wrapped it around her, across her chest and secured it with the velcro, brought it over her shoulder and across her right breast, she shivered a bit at the gentle brush and he had to choke down a small laugh, once again the bandage found itself in her back, this time over her left shoulder and across her left breast, he gave a once over her top chest and secured it with the velcro tip. 

“it’s good… thank you Jane”

“no problem”

Jane pulled the halter top under her head and tied it with a perfect ribbon on the back, took the shorts, which he had to admit looked very confy, and pulled them over her legs just as he had done with the underwear. After this whole ordeal her haircut got a bit messy. Jane took the hairbrush and combed it down, she looked cute. Like a little pixie. 

They both smiled at each other and a few minutes later a nurse came in with a wheel chair. Much to Lisbon’s complaints she had to be escorted out of the hospital in a wheelchair. 

Now the real recovery begun. And she felt unsure. But with Jane by her side she could do everything… right? 


	6. Broken Glass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teresa Finally leaves the hospital, at the CBI they're some serious changes going on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo sorry for the delay, freaking chapter seven took a whole lot of time to write.

Jane was worried, Lisbon hadn’t uttered a word since his apology in the hospital, for all he knew she might be asleep on the passager seat. But that wasn’t the case, her whole body seemed on alert. And he could also sense her, slightly quicker and more conscious, breathing. 

He sighed, normally she would be driving and wouldn’t even trust him the keys, she said his driving skills were close to a high schooler who just learned and wanted to impress his friends.

Patrick let his mind wander a bit, he still had to tell her brothers. They didn’t know she even went missing. Yet alone that she’d been tortured and as the result lost two of her four limbs.

And he was worried, knowing they were in bad terms, knowing they thought of her as a cop and not actually a sister, sure they loved her. But they didn’t show it… they resented her for leaving them all those tears back. And he couldn’t exactly blame them, yet their anger was not directed properly. Teresa had sacrificed her teenagehood and part of her young adult life for them. He heard she was a really young senior agent, maybe at twenty-two or twenty-five? He’d have to look it up, or ask her.

Lisbon shifted uncomfortably on her seat, eyes fluttering open, giving up on sleeping the short way home she looked at the side, specifically at Jane’s face, he seemed kinda deep in thought.

“so sleep didn’t work out huh?” she jumped slightly at his sudden address towards her. “Lisbon, we never called your brothers to inform them.” He told her and a few seconds later continued “they deserve to know so… we’ll call them once we reach the house”

Teresa looked surprised for a moment “house?”

“yeah, more specifically, the house I kept here in Sacramento, it’s not as big and flashy as my old one, but is still pretty big and confortable”

They were goind to his house? She thought they were going to her apartment.

“I know what you’re thinking, my house is a one store house, big, yes, ^but it doesn’t have stairs, mostly because I wanted a large one and not a tall one. So it’s a lot safer for you. And the team will come in turns to check on you and to bring groceries and stuff. Movie nights, Girls Fridays with Grace, Rigsby says he wants to retouch your hair in a few weeks and Cho doesn’t have an excuse apart from wanting to know your condition.”

Lisbon chuckled a bit, imagining everyone giving valid excuses to leave work early or for a few hours just to have Cho expose them all by being himself.

“Grace bought you a few pijamas. I think you will like them” he smiled while arriving at a red light.

“I already have pijamas”

“I know. But she got shoppy. And also, for the moment you can’t have pressure on your leg or side. So they’re different from your pants and t-shirts. They’re girly too”

Now it was Patrick’s turn to chuckle as he heard Teresa groan at the girly part. Raising three boys kinda made her a tomboy. Or a really tough girl. Either of those two options brought an image of a young Teresa beating a random bully of her brothers.

They fell into a comfortable silence, as the light turned green he advanced, his house was maybe anther two or three minutes away, considering it was a twenty minute ride from the hospital, they were a pretty short distance now.

“I have a pool… though I don’t think you’ll be able to use it…” Jane muttered the last part, realizing that she wasn’t even allowed near bleach and large water masses for a long period of time.

“… maybe if I use a floatie?”

“no… you’ll still be at risk of falling”

He heard her sigh. And he did as well.

Finally he pulled over at the entrance, a big house came into view, there were only about three other houses close, yet far enough to have privacy and peace. But Teresa noticed that Jane’s house was indeed the only one of only one floor, yet the largest out of all four houses.

The buildings were in top of a small hill. The slightly smaller and cheaper houses were on the bottom of the hill, she found it very amusing how there was no one outside. Yes it was the middle of the day, but it still felt annoyingly desolated.

“many of this houses are only used in the weekends, they’re completely paid off and on the way to the lake nearby, so families tend to use them as escapes houses more than actual living places. This area is really peaceful and quiet.” Jane clarified noticing her questioning gaze.

“oh…”

Patrick got off the car, closed the door and hurried to her side, oppend the door and ever so gently lifted her into his arms, being careful with her bandages, kicked her door closed and went inside the house.

Jane struggled a bit with the front door, once inside he settled her on the couch and went outside to retrieve the bags Grace had packed from Lisbon’s apartment.

In this short while, Teresa was left alone, on the hospital she had a blanket that covered her leg and nub, so she couldn’t actually see herself, to be honest she always felt her leg as if it was still there… call it phantom feeling, she felt her leg, yet now, she felt it, felt the pain too as she no longer had strong pain meds, and could look downwards and to the side… It felt so surreal.

Teresa didn’t even want to think about telling her brothers, it was not as simple as ‘hey I broke an arm’ or ‘hey I’ve been shot just letting you know’, no, she had no left leg or right arm, she couldn’t just wear a cast, resource to bedrest and that’s it, as good as new, she had to heal, her skin had to built itself up again, and later go to therapy just to walk with her prosthetic leg, it was a nightmare just thinking about it… her brothers didn’t exactly like her at the moment, she fled first chance, didn’t ever show up to family gatherings, not even when she was near the zone. Her niece, Annie, how was she going to react to her ‘cool’ and ‘awesome’ aunt Teresa being a disabled woman.

Back in the hospital she didn’t even have to use the bathroom thanks to the IV, they gave her sponge baths and changed her bandages regularly, everything was done for her, she didn’t know what she had to do now.

“woman I had no idea how much cloth you had until now!” Jane exclaimed while walking in, suitcases trailing behind him. “Grace said she packed the essentials but I think she packed your whole wardrobe.”

The brunette couldn’t help but laugh at his statement, Van Pelt did sound like the kind of woman to over pack, she might have also packed her jeans just to be on ‘the safe side’.

“you thought always wore my suits and jeans right?”

“yeah, she packed a few of your jackets too, and even this” he chuckled slightly and threw softly a stuffed cheetah in her way, Lisbon smilled and carresed the plushy’s face.

“I love cheetahs…” She smiled “the fastest runner on earth… and so fearsome, independent since a young age and-

“you feel identified with them yes?”

“yeah… but now” she moved her knew a bit “now I’m not even sure I deserve to feel identified with them…”

____________________

“I don’t care! I want him in here soon! He has to pay!”

Everyone practically jumped at Cho’s out burst, Grace even spilled her coffee on her keyboard, causing her to jump back and out of her seat.

“we haven’t caught him in SIX YEARS Cho! We’re not going to suddenly bring him in just for the Boss’s sake! As much as we want to make him pay we can’t!”

The whole CBI headquarters were busy, Lisbon’s office was empty at the moment, even though Cho was offered, her position for obvious reasons, he had declined using her office and instead was working in the bullpen with the rest of the team. Bertram stormed down his office, walking inside the place in obvious displeasure.

“Agensts” he started with his usual scowl “I suggest you start behaving your age and stop yelling in work hours! I’m giving Teresa’s case to the Missing Person’s Department”

“she’s no longer a missing person Sir” answered Van Pelt

“They also handle the aftermath of every missing person case”

Rigsby got up from his desk suddenly, fist clenched and jaw tight, took a few deep breaths in and sighed

“sir, that’s our case since it was done by Red John, and he’s our case!”

“I’m also giving that case to another team”

The whole bullpen went silent. Even people from another team went silent, the reason being every single one of them knew the importance that the Red John case had to the Serious Crime Unit and also knew that it was best handled by Patrick Jane himself, apparently the killer had developed and affinity to the man and wouldn’t have anyone else investigate him.

Anyone who touched the case without being with Patrick Jane or was Teresa Lisbon, was found dead hours later, no one was willing to even lift a file for said investigation. With Patrick gone for a few days with Teresa and her team on edge it felt like an ideal scenario for said killer to kill his next victim, which could very well be any of them if they accepted the case transfer.

“Sir Please, you know the dangers. It’s like Red John wants-

“he doesn’t know what happens in here, he doesn’t! You guys treat this man like he’s a sort of god or something!” Bertram fixed his suit “there’s been a murder of two prostitutes on the outskirts of town, the governor’s son was found near the crime scene with blood on his shirt, we’ve been asked to investigate. Get to work.”

______________________

“okay Teresa… now, you have to call your brothers…”

Jane and Lisbon had been sitting on that couch for a few minutes now, phone in hand and a small paper on the other with numbers written on it. She had half of the numbers in already, but couldn’t get past the other half. It been such a long time, and every time she called they hung up after hearing her voice. She was not their big and strong sister now… she needed them and… maybe they didn’t want to be there for her.

“… look I’ll call them… but you have to speak to them okay?”

Teresa quickly handed him the phone and paper, sobbing softly at her newly acquired patheticness, she couldn’t even dial her brothers number and inform them of her current condition.

She heard the noise the small digits made while being pressed and got nervous, a few seconds later the ringing begun, and a pick up sound was heard from the other side of the line.

**“hello”**

“hey, Tommy Lisbon?”

**“yeah, who’s this?”**

“My name is Patrick Jane and, don’t hang up or I swear you’ll….

The line went dead. Jane looked at the phone in disbelief and dialed again, no answer, he tried the next number, same land line occupied, he tried the last number and it didn’t even connect anymore, sadness, anger and shock wracked through his whole body, he knew her brothers were mad but just ignoring her like this? They didn’t even know what was happening on the other side, Teresa could be dead for as much as they knew and they didn’t care.

“see? T-they hate me… I-I screwed up a-and now they hate me! I’m pathetic!”

Jane hugged her close, his heart clenching every time her petite frame wracked with a sob and a hiccup. She was in distress… didn’t her family care?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter we get to see Lisbon in one of her check-ups and the case the team is working on might lead to a new clue.


	7. A call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team gets onto something and patrick recieves some intereaying news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey. Sorry I've been gone. I've been a bit discouraged as I hadn't got any feed back so I kinda wanted to cancel this... But I hate it when authors do that so I'll keep going.

With Glue

Lisbon watched as the doctors examined her nub. She felt awfully numb now. It didn't hurt, must be the anestesia. 

-have you had any out of place soreness- one of the medics asked her. 

-No, not even a bit, Jane's had me on complete bed rest, he just lets me up for the bathroom or for a bath

-that's very good. Most amputees don't heal this well because of bedrest lack. Good job sir. - he congratulated Patrick and wrote something down on his board. 

-now, lets see that scar shall we

The nurse in charge, Bella she believed, unwrapped with great care the bandages on her arm, taking of the layers of gauze and wiping of the left over healing cream. 

-this looks very good. The stitches healed very nicely and looks like there isn't any hypertrophic scarring. And it doesn't smell at all.

Lisbon found weird and a bit disgusting the smell comment but didn't say anything about it. 

Teresa couldn't help but feel a bit of pride swell on her chest. Patrick had been giving her hypnosis session of pain management and something along the lines of healing faster. Saying it was 'all in the brain'. She felt better now… Kinda better. 

-How has movement on the leg been? I advised you to move it slowly up and down as to get blood flow going normally again

-We've been doing that- answered Jane -she can even move it again by her own.

-That's very incredible.

-Praised the nurse again 

I'm honestly very surprised- she repeated- you must love your wife a lot sir. Most husbands drop their wife at a care center after an accident like this. I'm glad you're here for her

-He's not- Teresa started 

-Yeah. I'll always be there for her. She's been there for my darkest moments. It's only fair- 

He finished by rubbing her left shoulder and placing an affectionate kiss on her head. 

A few hours later the visit was over. And the nurse advised psychological help. Not because of the trauma being kidnapped and tortured had brought upon Teresa as she wasn't battling with that, but because of the mental instability she had acquired due to her current situation.

Over the afternoon Teresa slept. She felt drained and Patrick tried, once again. Calling her brothers. To no avail since he was received by the same voice mail as previous days. And he sighed in frustration, almost throwing the phone across the room. She'd been there for them for years to no end. He was sure she'd rush down to Chicago forma them, pay anything for the best treatment for them. And care for them in there sickness. Yet they couldn't answer a call?

-hmm… Jane….

His eyes turned over to her and, he was immediately by her side 

-yeah? What's wrong? Do you need the pain meds?

-no… It's not that… Stop calling them. They won't answer…

She sounded so sad yet sure. It broke his heart. Was their relationship really that damaged? He tried to think past that, tried to… Honestly tried to… 

-Teresa you lost two limbs!

Lisbon sat up slowly and maneuvered herself to sit as straight as possible. Her eyes looked tired and she looked very exhausted. Yet he found himself thinking she looked stunning. This all the more proved his theory, she was the strongest woman alive on earth at the moment. 

-Yeah… And they lost a sister, mother and father years ago when I left them… They have everything right to be mad about it

Words came out before he even knew it 

-IT WASN'T YOUR TASK TO RAISE THEM!- He tried to stop 

-y-you were a kid yourself Teresa… They should be incredibly thankful to you.. Should come running to you if you have as much as a sore throat- he gestured towards her whole body -you're an amputee! And where the fuck are they?!

-... Jane, this is going to fa-

-no it's not!- He slammed his hand down on the couch - I'm suffering! The team is suffering! They're in their cozy house, drinking beer and ignoring your calls… And you're here blaming yourself for your absence in their life?!

And for once in her life. She didn't find a comeback comment to answer Patrick. 

_______________________________

He heard steps and, expecting them to go by, he was surprised when they stopped in front of him, Kimball looked up from doing his, mostly neglected, paperwork. Rigsby also chimed in from his spot.

-Cho? May we have a word?

It was Van Pelt. She had a pale look on her face and clutched the file on her hands as if her whole existence depended on whatever the paper had written on it. 

-yes we may- 

-Okay- Grace pulled a chair from a nearby desk and padre him the file - I went to pick up the blood results... And CODIS gave me a… Pleasant yet scary news… The blood of the 'victim' is the same blood that was found on the wall of the boss's department.

-Wait… Grace that blood was Lisbon's…-started Rigsby- we even wrote it down as old blood. It was dried up. 

-yeah but… CODIS never ran it… We just assumed it was hers. I must have dropped both samples by accident and the matched… And plus… Maybe Red John never took her in the first place. 

-Grace hold up- said Cho- You mean the blood came from this woman? She's been dead for a two months and Lisbon was kidnapped three and a half months ago. She can't be the source. It was Red John. He even left a massage for Jane

-but Red John likes Lisbon. He enjoys having her in the 'game', plus, she hadn't done anything wrong to maddend him… She was playing by the rules.

-Grace… Red John had her. Even his team came to drop her off…

-What if they found her for us? And they just cleaned her up… For whatever reason.

Cho rubbed his face and sighed. Grace's idea was stupid. In fact it was so stupid it might actually be real. He tried to recall… Tried to but he didn't bring up a single thing that meant Red John did it. Lisbon did mention Lorelei's name. But truth be told. She didn't actually know the woman that much. Just very basic descriptions, and half of the United States population has black hair. 

-now that I recall… - he whispered - boss never said anything about Red John, she just said Lorelei…

-and her description is a pretty basic one, black hair, white skin, brown eyes… 

-it could literally be anyone. 

-plus… Red John isn't someone who brands people. He stays traditional.- added Grace - I think is worth looking it up. Don't you Cho?

-....fine I'll look it up!

-thanks. 

__________________________

Jane had been thinking lately. Teresa was indeed in need of a walking device. Most of her time was spent on a wheelchair and the couch or bed. Yes he knew… she had to heal…

But looking up a few prosthetics wouldn't hurt right?

His search led him to a solution. While it was cheap it meant it was temporary. He found that prosthetics were expensive. Nothing a night in a casino wouldn't buy. Or even better. One of his bank accounts could buy that…

But this thing, an iWALK, as the website read. Was meant as a temporary or emergency prosthetic. It was pretty obvious that in no way it should replace a fitted, specially made prosthesis. I would help support her knee and weight, she would be able to order it easily. 

Once the order was placed and paid, he noticed his phone ringing. Hoping it was Teresa's brothers he picked up. Only to be greeted with a deep laugh…

-…. Why her?... She hadn't done anything wrong… Why not me? Why take her…

Now now Patrick… I would never harm a hair of Teresa's head, I know once she's gone the game's over. I don't want the game to be over…

-you branded her! Like some kind of animal!

A sigh was heard and he could almost hear the name shaking his head. 

-since when have I gotten out of my pattern?… Since when do I brand my victims? Lorelei didn't even pick her up. She's been out of the country for a few months now. 

Patrick could feel his hands tremble. Teresa stirred a little in her nap due to the voices. So he locked himself in the storage room, where he could make as much noise as he wanted. 

-…. What do you want…

I wanna continue the game, but until your little guard dog isn't back on her feet… Foot, you won't be able to do so… 

The man on the other side of the line took a sharp inbreath 

-I have a deal Patrick Jane...


	8. Moving forward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teresa is finally able to take her fist steps, and apparently, Jane made a deal with the devil himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is under revision. Meaning I changed a few things. No longer is Teresa a double amputee, she did loose two limbs, but one (the arm) got reattached through medical procedure. I'll explain it more once I finish editing.

To say that jane was ecstatic was an understatement. He was beyond happiness at this point. Words couldn't describe what he was feeling… watching Teresa take her first steps was amazing. Sure she was trembling, using crutches … And must be in an absurd amount of pain..

But she was walking!

-you're doing really well miss Lisbon!- praised one of the nurses of the hospital.

Finally after two months of bed rest, she was allowed to go on the next level of physical therapy. With the iWalk Patrick had gotten her she could practice and get used to a prosthetic limb while they got the fitted one done. 

At the moment, she was taking baby steps on the little stairs case they had at the rehab center. Grace was also there. Helping her stay upright, her hand on her hip and Teresa's own hand on her arm. She had this pain expression, yet it didn't make him feel sorry… for she also had this cute, little, proud smile cemented on her face. 

-I'm very proud boss… 

-thanks grace… That means a lot for me - Teresa smiled and kept on walking, while yes, she lost two and -while one got reconnected the other would only partly recover… She felt happy. 

She was grasping back her life. 

She was okay… Alive and kicking… 

And while she was breathing she could take her life back. 

_________________

_-what do you mean Jane?! You want us to leave Red John alone for six months?!_

_-yes! I know it's crazy! But...you have to… It's for Lisbon…_

_Cho ran a hand through his hair, frustrated, he later sat down, hands covering his face, and with a tired voices asked…_

_-why do you want to leave her kidnapper alone for that long?_

_-He's not her kidnapper… If he was, why is she alive? He has taking a sorta liking to her… In a sense she allowed me to keep playing his game… Now that she's 'gone' I haven't been paying attention to him…_

_Rigsby remained silent through the whole ordeal, watching from one of the corners while holding a closed envelope on his hands. It was the report on Lisbon's case. The case they didn't have anymore… The case he shouldn't even be reading about anymore. So the reason he stole the envelope from Brutu's Desk was beyond his comprehension. And the reason he was sharing it with Cho was even more foreign._

_-Cho?_

_-yes Rigsby?- he exhaled while rubbing a hand on his forehead._

_-.... I have a report… You should read it. I have to return it to Brutus soon …_

_Jane practically snatched the thing from his hands and took it to the printer in the basement. Ripping open the envelope and copying the message without the signature and the ink stamp._

_-... Jane?-_

_-I will give you the copy… Please guys… Give me and Red John six months and we'll have Lisbon's culprit… then we can give back to chasing his tail… six months…_

_He proceeded to get the new letter out, sign it with an exact replica of Bertram's signature and stamp. Sealing it in a new envelope and giving that one to Rigsby._

_-I know I'm not the most trustworthy person out there.. And you're probably smarter by limiting my participation in this case… But please, Lisbon pieced me back together and I want to return the favor, she needs us even if she doesn't express it. You know it Cho._

_-.... Four months Jane… I can give you four months…_

_-Thanks Cho!-_

____________________

-Jane? 

The physician had advised using the stump more, going on walks, small hikes if it was possible and a few more therapies, all to get the muscle back to her stump and learning to work with the temporary prosthetic. Her arm was usually braced in a crutch while the other one had layers of gauze and bandages in the base. All to keep the wound safe. 

And Jane being Jane had taken it upon to himself to take her on small adventures 'let's go to the park Lisbon!' 'Lisbon! A new store opened up! Let's go see it' 'Teresa let's go over to the CBI and say hello!' 'Teresa let's go to the beach!' She'd sometimes laugh and follow, sometimes she'd get stressed but still went with him…

And sometimes.. When she woke and the phantom pain was specially worse, those were the days she wished he had killed her. Her whole spine and hips hurt, the stump burned and her bone felt as if it was made of lava. And Jane was there for her, calmed her down, messaged the tissue with even more tenderness than the experienced nurses… 

So this afternoon when he offered to take her shopping she'd been kinda excited. It was a level floor for once, yet not a soft soul one so her knee was starting to hurt… They'd been shopping around for a few hours now, looking at suits, shirts, shoes -for which she exclaimed didn't need any since she was only using one- shorts and a few hair products when she spotted a familiar figure in the crowd. 

-... That's Annie… Meaning..

They both heard multiple gasps behind them, Patrick grabbing Teresa's good arm to keep her steady when she inevitably turned ti find the whole Lisbon Clan there...

-... Reese… What happened to you?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for the read!


	9. Messy Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teresa's brothers cause a scandal at the sight of their mangled sister. Now jane has a clue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, part of the editing this story is going through is that Jane, had to fake a marriage in order to take care of Teresa and have access to exclusive, immediate family members files. I'll add that to a prior chapter and notify you guys on this notes.

_-…. Nghh… J-Jane JANE!_

_Over the last few days Teresa's beed off of the very strong painkillers they gave her in the ICU, meaning her phantom pain got stronger by the second. Her arm was still in a cast. Luckily enough the break was bellow the elbow. Allowing for a more comfortable wear -as comfortable as having your arm sewed back on was- recently she was waking up with strong, numbing pains on her spine and hips._

_Her body seemed on much higher allert than before, when she was in the hospital the medication didn't allow any pain to get into her nerves… Now she was free of drugs… And her system was finally responding to the missing limb, trying to get in contact with it…_

_When in reality there's no right leg and, since it wasn't receiving any signal, her brain was sending pain waves to her whole body…_

_-Teresa…_

_-it b-burns!- She looked desperate, brow knitted in frustration, a bit of sweat sticking to her hair to her forehead… It was the third time she woke up from the pain and it was just 2 am… Patrick cuddled her in his chest, hand going down to the base of her spine and pressed down on it, rubbing and massaging the tender spot._

_-It's alright… It's gonna be okay… Want me to hypnotize you? Maybe you'll be able to sleep a few more hours…_

_He never thought he'd see her like, brave and strong Teresa Lisbon in bed… trembling and sobbing…_

_-y-yes! Please!_

_-....okay… Teresa Listen… You're okay, you're fine, your body is trying to call your leg… But sadly it's out of connection. As the owner of your body you need to help it calm down okay?- he said in a steady voice, surprising himself since he was shaking strongly, - in and out… Breath… In… And out… Come on lisbon… You're strong… In and out… There you go… good girl…_

_After a few more minutes she managed to calm down enough to go back to sleep._

_____________________

-Reese wha-

-Jane let's go…

Teresa started to turn in the opposite direction, wanting to get as fat from them of possible. Jane was torn between a tough decision, he could follow her, which would be the smart move, seeing as she could easily trip and fall down, furthering her injuries, or he could stay and tell the bastards of the Lisbon clan a piece of their mind… 

Yeah that sounded ni-

-Jane!

-.... Coming…

Trotting back to her was the easy part, convincing her to let him grab her arm... That was the hard part. Usually she tended to let him grab her by the elbow or upper arm of her right side, he was gentle and honestly held her with much more care than some of the nicest nurses in the hospital, Jane acted as her second crutch, while she placed her weight in her left crutch, he held her in place if she were to take a false step.

Sometimes kids just being kids ran past her almost making her loose balance, while usually the parents scolded their kids and offered millions of apologies, some of them seemed annoyed at the sight of Lisbon. Saying she 'shouldn't be out of her House' and how could 'such a handsome man still be with a woman as her' or that 'he must be her brother o cousin as no one would stay with a mangled woman'. To wich he would flash his wedding band in their face and kiss he cheek in front of everyone in the place. 

He even had a group of mariachis play her a song once after and specially nasty comment that left her almost in tears. 

-Teresa wait! - one of the brothers approached her, he assumed he was Jimmy since he had no Annie following him. - please… Why didn't you te-

-I'm gonna stop you right there… - Jane said in an angry tone while jabbing his finger in the other man's chest.- I have called you every single day up until two months ago, we tried to tell you-

-Jane sto-

-I tried calling you from every single phone I could get my hands into! Every. Single. One. And what did you do? You hung up after hearing my voice. I called Tommy then, 'He's a bounty hunter', 'he must understand that if I'm calling it must be important' but no, he also hung up on me, Annie answered once, she listened but when I was about to tell her, guess what daddy dearest said- Jane walked over at Tommy imitating his voice- 'Stop calling me, I don't want to know anything about that bitch'

-Jane please… Let's ju-

-I also tried the big guy over here, he would never pick up, wifey did, she promised to tell him I needed to speak with him about Lisbon… But nothing. After a few weeks I stopped being able to reach any of you guys! 

-Jane! Please! my-

-Shut it Teresa! It's not fair! The whole team wa-is worried sick! Rigsby has literal raccoon eyes, Cho is going crazy asking to bring your kidnapper in every single day! And Grace lost 20 pounds already. I stay with you and care for you! I love it, don't get me wrong... But where were they?! 

-J-Jan-

-Do you remember what they said back at the hospital to release you? 

-Please… Ja- 

-Do you?!

-.... That they needed a-a family member to sign for my discharge… 

-Guess what I had to do?- his gaze burned wholes into their souls- I'm 'married' to her now.

Patrick wasn't lying nor was he telling the truth. Sarah had indeed made them a paper that stated they were married, but since it was never submitted to any court it was not legal, it just acted as proof of their 'marital status' that allowed him to be inside with her on therapy, doctor visits and on minor medical procedures. 

He got the idea after one if her visits when a nurse called him her husband. After that he immediately called Sarah -who, being the butter heart she was- agreed to sign everything and make it look authentic. 

It proved to be useful, but it also meant the CBI was not letting him return until Teresa was completely healed, which was problematic on his side since the files Red John needed were not about to steal themselves. 

-In the doctor's eyes, and to every single nurse I come across I'm not Patrick Jane anymore, I'm Patrick Lisbon, since I love my wife so much to take her last name instead of the other way around. Isn't it lovely? 

-PATRICK!

-Aunt Teresa!

-Teresa wha-

The all turned around in time to see Annie grab Lisbon by the waist to prevent her from hitting the ground. She was not leaning on her prosthetic at all and was actually trying to take it off. Teresa barely did that anymore, it started when she would try to get her cast off, she said it didn't feel natural with her leg. 

-... Teresa is it the phan-

-YES! JUST GET ME TO A MIRROR! PLEASE!

Faster than any of the people present could comprehend the weird request, he had gotten her out of Annie's embrace and was carrying her to the nearest department store. Of course the whole clan followed close behind.

-Excuse me… My wife is experiencing a very bad phantom pain em…- he looked desperate, he was never one to loose his cool, not when he was in danger, was being beaten or even when the same woman had a bomb strapped to her chest, yet now he could barely talk- I-I … Please… I..

-Could you please loan us a mirror sir? … My mom needs to do a therapy, we got lost in time and it's already a few hours past and we live and hour away and… And please sir.. She will just need it for at most half and hour…

-... Sure, come with me

The customer service guy -who's tag read 'Luke'- took them to the manager -Called William- Annie explained the situation that, accompanied by Teresa's moans of pain, got them a mirror and William's office to do the Therapy.

Teresa sat open legged on the floor, her shorts long gone as she stayed just with her underwear on and Patrick's jacket on her lap, him behind her to guide some of the movements and help cover her better, the mirror rested between her legs while she moved her right limb, fingers and ankle, all while imagining doing it with her left one… tried to feel the joints, muscle and skin, rubbing against themselves and against the floor itself. She gave a small giggle when Patrick tickled her hip making her curl her toes in surprise, smiling even wider when she felt her left leg doing the same.

-... What's she doing?- asked Jimmy silently to Annie, who kept her nose in her phone book. 

-it's called Mirror Therapy… It tricks the brain into thinking that you still have the limb attached and stop the signals to the limb if done correctly. 

Stan looked at the floor, where her sister was laying with Jane, who was now rubbing her left leg specially hard. Kinda holding it down while she lifted it slowly and gently. 

-.... What happened…

-... I really don't want to talk about it right now. I just want to go back home and let her sleep… We've had a long day…

After thirty minutes Teresa was better, Patrick even gave her one of the painkillers the doctor gave them and helped her put her boot on, leaving the prosthetic alone for the moment. 

-... This is a weird prosthetic uncle Patrick - Annie said - My friend Ben has one and his is like an actual foot. 

-that would be a fitted prosthetic Annie- Teresa explained while starting to wrap her stump. 

The whole group watched, Teresa wrapped her residual limb in a wide, skin tone bandage, starting on the thigh and slowly going over the stump. After a few rounds she secured it with a little pin, and placed a long black sock over the whole wrapping. Put her shorts on, struggling a bit and finally placed her knee on the little platform the prosthetic had, securing it with the straps and clipped the top belt onto her thigh. 

-Teresa ple-

-Good bye Brothers… I plan on changing my last name soon so.. I guess I won't be your sister anymore…

__________________

_-Lorelei informed me of that little stunt Lisbon's brothers pulled off at the mall Patrick._

_-... Yes she… She got an episode thanks to that.- A deep hum was heard and a few clicking sounds._

_-... Did you get the papers we asked for?_

_Now a feminine voice called. He handed her the envelope while still keeping his gaze down._

_-Sweet Patrick… Who's love always suffers because of him… - ripping and tearing paper, the owner of the voice skimmed though the report. - now this is interesting… You said she ate human flesh and the doctor wrote it off as an auto-canibalism on her arm.. But last time I checked it was reattached and complete…_

_-... T-the doctor._

_-how stupid can you get when you're worried? - he tossed the papers on the table, and now the woman checked them slowly - …_

_-female flesh? Isn't there a missing redhead from your department...the Media some shit Unit…_

_-... Brenda?_

_-yeah, the mole._

_-tick tock Patrick, remember that case a few months ago… that millionaire was mad…_

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the read! Also, feedback is also welcomed.


End file.
